Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail
August 31, 2023 9:43 PM Subscribe
Pioneering wind-powered cargo ship sets sail
5,000 years ago in a previous life, I remember reading the same headline, except it was in hieroglyphics.
posted by fairmettle at 11:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
5,000 years ago in a previous life, I remember reading the same headline, except it was in hieroglyphics.
posted by fairmettle at 11:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [11 favorites]
chariot pulled by cassowaries, you gem, you absolute diamond. I enjoyed the link in this article, too, July's "The return of cargo-carrying sail ships:"
Jorne Langelaan is beaming as he shows me around De Tukker, a traditional two-mast Dutch sail barge that was built in 1912. Mr Langelaan has spent the past two years restoring the vessel with the aim of returning it to its original role - transporting cargo. Last month, the ship set sail on its first commercial voyage under the ownership of Mr Langelaan's company, Ecoclipper. [...] Mr Langelaan, now in his mid-40s, says he first decided that we needed to return to sail cargo ships when he was in his early 20s. At the time he was working alongside climate researchers and biologists on expeditions to Antarctica, as a crew member on a historical tall sail ship called Bark Europa.
De Tukker can only haul a tiny fraction of that with her 70 cubic meters of cargo space, making her a more expensive way to ship cargo. Yet Mr Langelaan adds that people don't see the "true ecological price" of container ships. "The price of people falling ill due to the climate change, for instance. That's never paid for."
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Jorne Langelaan is beaming as he shows me around De Tukker, a traditional two-mast Dutch sail barge that was built in 1912. Mr Langelaan has spent the past two years restoring the vessel with the aim of returning it to its original role - transporting cargo. Last month, the ship set sail on its first commercial voyage under the ownership of Mr Langelaan's company, Ecoclipper. [...] Mr Langelaan, now in his mid-40s, says he first decided that we needed to return to sail cargo ships when he was in his early 20s. At the time he was working alongside climate researchers and biologists on expeditions to Antarctica, as a crew member on a historical tall sail ship called Bark Europa.
De Tukker can only haul a tiny fraction of that with her 70 cubic meters of cargo space, making her a more expensive way to ship cargo. Yet Mr Langelaan adds that people don't see the "true ecological price" of container ships. "The price of people falling ill due to the climate change, for instance. That's never paid for."
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:00 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
[The Beeb has Langelaan looking properly sea-salty, save one thing; I am making up for that at the Amsterdam Pipe Museum.]
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:07 PM on August 31, 2023
posted by Iris Gambol at 11:07 PM on August 31, 2023
I like that is an international project: a British design funded by the EU, produced by a Norwegian fertilizer corporation. Many people were involved to make this thing sail.
The project, comprising a multitude of industry players across design, funding, provision, installation, chartering, and operation, exemplifies the kind of collaboration needed in the shipping industry to get the energy transition up to speed. Two WindWings will be delivered by Yara Marine and installed on the Pyxis Ocean, with one of those wings funded by the European Union as part of EU Horizon 2020 Project CHEK, dedicated to demonstrating solutions for decarbonizing international shipping. All partners wish to thank the European Union for their vision in this important area.
At 5 years old the Pyxis Ocean, an 80,962DWT bulk carrier, keenly represents the challenges the energy transition poses to the global fleet. With vessels up to 9 years in age comprising 55% of the world’s bulk carrier fleet, and 51% of all ships on the water, the industry is in dire need of retrofit solutions capable of decarbonizing existing ships, alongside the research and development of future sources of clean fuels such as renewable gases and hydrogen.
posted by UN at 11:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
The project, comprising a multitude of industry players across design, funding, provision, installation, chartering, and operation, exemplifies the kind of collaboration needed in the shipping industry to get the energy transition up to speed. Two WindWings will be delivered by Yara Marine and installed on the Pyxis Ocean, with one of those wings funded by the European Union as part of EU Horizon 2020 Project CHEK, dedicated to demonstrating solutions for decarbonizing international shipping. All partners wish to thank the European Union for their vision in this important area.
At 5 years old the Pyxis Ocean, an 80,962DWT bulk carrier, keenly represents the challenges the energy transition poses to the global fleet. With vessels up to 9 years in age comprising 55% of the world’s bulk carrier fleet, and 51% of all ships on the water, the industry is in dire need of retrofit solutions capable of decarbonizing existing ships, alongside the research and development of future sources of clean fuels such as renewable gases and hydrogen.
posted by UN at 11:33 PM on August 31, 2023 [3 favorites]
Up with this sort of thing.
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:23 AM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by GallonOfAlan at 1:23 AM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
It seems like every few years there is a story about "container cargo company experimenting with wind power", although this one seems to have more than just a rendering -- they actually have the wing sails mounted to the ship and are sending it out on a test sail.
The projects like de Tukker or Fairtransport are beautiful dreams and a delight to sail on, but they are microscopic when compared to modern cargo vessels. Fairtransport's brigantine, the Tres Hombres, can carry 40 tons or 50 cubic meters with a crew of 25, while something like the Evergiven can carry 20k TEU or 6 million cubic meters, also with a crew of 25. The square rigged ship also requires exhausting watches round the clock to tend to the sails and facilities are spartan at best, while the container ship is almost entirely automated and has decent accommodations with hot showers. Additionally an engine-less sail boat is entirely dependent on the wind so it can't make firm delivery times, while the motorized container ship can promise on-time schedules (assuming it doesn't get stuck in the Suez..).
At the end of the age of sail, many tall ships continued sailing after the introduction of faster steam ships, but their role switched to hauling time-insensitive loads of coal to ports for those "modern" ships, which then carried the more time-critical cargo. Fairtransport seems to have found the inverse: high-value relatively low-volume niches that don't care as much about the specific arrival dates but that do care about the means of transport. They carry rum from the Caribbean and part of the story is that the barrels were aged in the ship's hold while being transported by sail, and they also bring coco beans to a specialty chocolate maker that advertises their zero carbon footprint.
Plus they've figured out that they can get some of the crew to pay to work, which attracts people like me who don't want to spend our whole lives tossed on a rolling main, but enjoy going aloft once in a while...
posted by autopilot at 1:24 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
The projects like de Tukker or Fairtransport are beautiful dreams and a delight to sail on, but they are microscopic when compared to modern cargo vessels. Fairtransport's brigantine, the Tres Hombres, can carry 40 tons or 50 cubic meters with a crew of 25, while something like the Evergiven can carry 20k TEU or 6 million cubic meters, also with a crew of 25. The square rigged ship also requires exhausting watches round the clock to tend to the sails and facilities are spartan at best, while the container ship is almost entirely automated and has decent accommodations with hot showers. Additionally an engine-less sail boat is entirely dependent on the wind so it can't make firm delivery times, while the motorized container ship can promise on-time schedules (assuming it doesn't get stuck in the Suez..).
At the end of the age of sail, many tall ships continued sailing after the introduction of faster steam ships, but their role switched to hauling time-insensitive loads of coal to ports for those "modern" ships, which then carried the more time-critical cargo. Fairtransport seems to have found the inverse: high-value relatively low-volume niches that don't care as much about the specific arrival dates but that do care about the means of transport. They carry rum from the Caribbean and part of the story is that the barrels were aged in the ship's hold while being transported by sail, and they also bring coco beans to a specialty chocolate maker that advertises their zero carbon footprint.
Plus they've figured out that they can get some of the crew to pay to work, which attracts people like me who don't want to spend our whole lives tossed on a rolling main, but enjoy going aloft once in a while...
posted by autopilot at 1:24 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
If you're interested in this tech then you might also find Flettner Rotors interesting. They basically look like oversized chimneys when attached to ships and can help provide forward motion and reduce the need for fuel usage. Flettner came up with the idea in the 1920s and tested it at sea in 1925, but modern ships have only been using the rotors since 2008. The first modern ship being the E-ship 1, built for the German wind energy company, Enercon. They have been getting adopted more widely since then, including on several ferries.
A brief video showing how the Flettner rotor works with diagrams. Here's the science.
posted by biffa at 3:01 AM on September 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
A brief video showing how the Flettner rotor works with diagrams. Here's the science.
posted by biffa at 3:01 AM on September 1, 2023 [6 favorites]
It seems like every few years there is a story about "container cargo company experimenting with wind power", although this one seems to have more than just a rendering...
See also: The return of airships/zeppelins.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:56 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
See also: The return of airships/zeppelins.
posted by Thorzdad at 3:56 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
5,000 years ago in a previous life, I remember reading the same headline, except it was in hieroglyphics.
Technologically, I suspect our future is going to look a lot more like the past - in some cases the distant past - than "the future".
posted by ryanshepard at 4:57 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Technologically, I suspect our future is going to look a lot more like the past - in some cases the distant past - than "the future".
posted by ryanshepard at 4:57 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Previous thread on the return of sail freight.
My response to this latest iteration is the same as I said there: prove it. There've been auxillary sail designs like this since at least the 1980s. They always generate a lot of press, but I've yet to see any of these designs go beyond a trial installation on a single vessel.
posted by automatronic at 5:14 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
My response to this latest iteration is the same as I said there: prove it. There've been auxillary sail designs like this since at least the 1980s. They always generate a lot of press, but I've yet to see any of these designs go beyond a trial installation on a single vessel.
posted by automatronic at 5:14 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
Technologically, I suspect our future is going to look a lot more like the past - in some cases the distant past - than "the future".
I think I agree with you, but in my mind I won't be anything like the past in form or shape. Today my local trade daily newsletter has a FP story about a new consortium who are planning to develop clay/rammed earth technologies for our age. It's very pay-walled (not even gift links), but I found another site with an overview of current projects: Local Colors in Rammed Earth Construction: 50 Projects Revealing Earth's Vibrant Palette.
Rammed earth, clay and straw bale construction are all examples of what Rebecca Solnit described as an abundant future rather than the doom some people predict. Cheap, abundant raw materials can be converted into much better, safer and larger houses for everyone, if/when we figure out how to mechanize their production.
My feelings about these sails are mixed. I like the idea that it seems to be an existing ship that is retrofitted. We have to reuse all the redundant stuff we have created. I hope it will be a success story. But I have to admit it makes me a bit sad to see how ugly it is. And there are questions about the height of the sails -- can they go under all the bridges?
posted by mumimor at 5:31 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
I think I agree with you, but in my mind I won't be anything like the past in form or shape. Today my local trade daily newsletter has a FP story about a new consortium who are planning to develop clay/rammed earth technologies for our age. It's very pay-walled (not even gift links), but I found another site with an overview of current projects: Local Colors in Rammed Earth Construction: 50 Projects Revealing Earth's Vibrant Palette.
Rammed earth, clay and straw bale construction are all examples of what Rebecca Solnit described as an abundant future rather than the doom some people predict. Cheap, abundant raw materials can be converted into much better, safer and larger houses for everyone, if/when we figure out how to mechanize their production.
My feelings about these sails are mixed. I like the idea that it seems to be an existing ship that is retrofitted. We have to reuse all the redundant stuff we have created. I hope it will be a success story. But I have to admit it makes me a bit sad to see how ugly it is. And there are questions about the height of the sails -- can they go under all the bridges?
posted by mumimor at 5:31 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
If oil eventually becomes expensive because of scarcity or taxation, we might see sail or sail-augmentation becoming common. But in the meantime, I think it will stay a more marginal technology, fitting into a few niches but otherwise always being just over the horizon in terms of implementation.
I'm probably wrong since there clearly isn't much of a current market providing this, but I have to imagine that there would actually be a small but robust market for low- or no-carbon sail or sail-augmented semi-luxury passenger travel. Like, if you took early retirement or a sabbatical and wanted to spend a few months traveling in Europe, wouldn't spending a week or two getting there on a sailing boat be a lovely way to start the trip?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:53 AM on September 1, 2023
I'm probably wrong since there clearly isn't much of a current market providing this, but I have to imagine that there would actually be a small but robust market for low- or no-carbon sail or sail-augmented semi-luxury passenger travel. Like, if you took early retirement or a sabbatical and wanted to spend a few months traveling in Europe, wouldn't spending a week or two getting there on a sailing boat be a lovely way to start the trip?
posted by Dip Flash at 6:53 AM on September 1, 2023
Since nobody has come along yet to point this out, one reason why this story never gets beyond a pilot project with a single hull is that a sailing rig is is a complicated fucking assembly of cables and ropes and sail fabric, and there are durability and maintenance issues arising from that. This, in addition to the watch-and-watch schedule of people to man all the sheets and be ready to leap into action when the wind changes, was one of the big killers of commercial sail. Things break on a sailing ship, and there has to be somebody aboard who has the skills to fix them.
They don't make people like that anymore, in anything like the numbers that would be needed to do any significant amount of sailing cargo traffic.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 7:06 AM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
They don't make people like that anymore, in anything like the numbers that would be needed to do any significant amount of sailing cargo traffic.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 7:06 AM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The WindWings on the Pyxis Ocean are not a "complicated fucking assembly of cables and ropes and sail fabric".
I want more data on the ship! Here's what I could find.
Wikipedia sez it's 229m long by 32m wide and has a tonnage of 43,291 tons. This makes it smaller than a Panamax but fairly large as a feeder container ship.
It's not fully sail powered. Robb Report says "average fuel savings of up to 30 percent on new builds", presumably less on this retrofit. For comparison Flettner Rotors are in actual use on a few ships and save 5–20% of fuel.
You can track the Pyxis Ocean here or here. It's moving at 15kts. Not clear if that's under sail though, I'm guessing not as long as they're in the Strait of Malacca.)
posted by Nelson at 7:11 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
I want more data on the ship! Here's what I could find.
Wikipedia sez it's 229m long by 32m wide and has a tonnage of 43,291 tons. This makes it smaller than a Panamax but fairly large as a feeder container ship.
It's not fully sail powered. Robb Report says "average fuel savings of up to 30 percent on new builds", presumably less on this retrofit. For comparison Flettner Rotors are in actual use on a few ships and save 5–20% of fuel.
You can track the Pyxis Ocean here or here. It's moving at 15kts. Not clear if that's under sail though, I'm guessing not as long as they're in the Strait of Malacca.)
posted by Nelson at 7:11 AM on September 1, 2023 [3 favorites]
Not an engineer, so I'm sure there's like a million problems with this, but I'm just generally impressed with human's ability to use tools to the extent we do, but I was always wondering, since ships are so big and seem fairly stable (enough to strap a shit ton of cargo to), how hard it would be to tether some Buoyant Airborne Turbines to them to power electric engines?
posted by furnace.heart at 8:07 AM on September 1, 2023
posted by furnace.heart at 8:07 AM on September 1, 2023
It's off of South Africa now, traveling from Shanghai to Paranagua, Brazil. Scheduled to arrive on September 15th. 9.8 knots.
posted by jwells at 10:41 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by jwells at 10:41 AM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
> The WindWings on the Pyxis Ocean are not a "complicated fucking assembly of cables and ropes and sail fabric".
I see. They are complicated fucking assemblies of cables and metal castings and machined parts and airfoils, which will prove impossible to fix at sea. When (not if) they break.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 11:48 AM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
I see. They are complicated fucking assemblies of cables and metal castings and machined parts and airfoils, which will prove impossible to fix at sea. When (not if) they break.
posted by Aardvark Cheeselog at 11:48 AM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Most certainly deserving of a LEGO model. They have done cargo ships before.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 12:29 PM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by MonsieurPEB at 12:29 PM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
I see. They are complicated fucking assemblies of cables and metal castings and machined parts and airfoils, which will prove impossible to fix at sea. When (not if) they break.
Oh yes, these sail systems are horribly complicated and as a result absolutely impractical at sea.
Completely unlike all those super simple and straightforward giant diesel engine power plants the size of buildings, thrusters, thruster control systems, propulsion control systems, ballast control systems, navigation systems, all the computers and electronics required to manage modern giant cargo ships with minimal crew, etc. that are already on every single modern cargo ship at sea.
/s
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:22 PM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Oh yes, these sail systems are horribly complicated and as a result absolutely impractical at sea.
Completely unlike all those super simple and straightforward giant diesel engine power plants the size of buildings, thrusters, thruster control systems, propulsion control systems, ballast control systems, navigation systems, all the computers and electronics required to manage modern giant cargo ships with minimal crew, etc. that are already on every single modern cargo ship at sea.
/s
posted by fimbulvetr at 1:22 PM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
but I have to imagine that there would actually be a small but robust market for low- or no-carbon sail or sail-augmented semi-luxury passenger travel.
There is I think. My in-laws sailed around the coast of Greenland a while back. Try looking for sailing 'expeditions'.
posted by biffa at 1:38 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
There is I think. My in-laws sailed around the coast of Greenland a while back. Try looking for sailing 'expeditions'.
posted by biffa at 1:38 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
Completely unlike all those super simple and straightforward giant diesel engine power plants the size of buildings, thrusters, thruster control systems, propulsion control systems, ballast control systems, navigation systems, all the computers and electronics required to manage modern giant cargo ships
You know what all those modern gadgets have in common?
They're indoors.
A ship's engine lives in a happy little cocoon where it is warm and dry and smothered in lubricants. It consists of a colossal block of metal that holds all its fixed parts completely rigid, while precision machined moving parts spin and slide with tolerances of thousandths of an inch. These days there are a whole host of monitoring systems that keep track of wear and part lifetimes, and allow maintenance to be planned and scheduled to happen in port. The only part of the whole system that's exposed to the sea is the propeller, and that's a big dumb hunk of bronze.
A sailing rig is exposed to the elements 24/7, and every single part of it is moving, straining, chafing and jerking in the wind and the spray and the salt and the sun. Every part of it is being eaten away constantly and has to be watched by eye, maintained, repaired, and renewed as needed.
The big sail freighters of the past were floating rigging factories. They put to sea loaded with acres of canvas, miles of rope and tons of wood, and their crews were constantly manufacturing new sails, lines, blocks, and so forth on board. Short of losing a mast, pretty much any part of the rig could be rebuilt from scratch while underway.
The maintenance challenges aren't comparable.
There's basically two ways for a system to be viable at sea:
The reason all these wingsail systems keep failing to catch on is that they fall into that gap in the middle. They're not reliable enough that they can be treated like an engine, but they're too complex and specialised to be maintained at sea.
posted by automatronic at 3:08 PM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
You know what all those modern gadgets have in common?
They're indoors.
A ship's engine lives in a happy little cocoon where it is warm and dry and smothered in lubricants. It consists of a colossal block of metal that holds all its fixed parts completely rigid, while precision machined moving parts spin and slide with tolerances of thousandths of an inch. These days there are a whole host of monitoring systems that keep track of wear and part lifetimes, and allow maintenance to be planned and scheduled to happen in port. The only part of the whole system that's exposed to the sea is the propeller, and that's a big dumb hunk of bronze.
A sailing rig is exposed to the elements 24/7, and every single part of it is moving, straining, chafing and jerking in the wind and the spray and the salt and the sun. Every part of it is being eaten away constantly and has to be watched by eye, maintained, repaired, and renewed as needed.
The big sail freighters of the past were floating rigging factories. They put to sea loaded with acres of canvas, miles of rope and tons of wood, and their crews were constantly manufacturing new sails, lines, blocks, and so forth on board. Short of losing a mast, pretty much any part of the rig could be rebuilt from scratch while underway.
The maintenance challenges aren't comparable.
There's basically two ways for a system to be viable at sea:
- It works like an engine: reliable, predictable, and with maintenance that can be scheduled in port; or
- It works like a sailing rig: every part of it can be repaired, replaced and rebuilt while underway.
The reason all these wingsail systems keep failing to catch on is that they fall into that gap in the middle. They're not reliable enough that they can be treated like an engine, but they're too complex and specialised to be maintained at sea.
posted by automatronic at 3:08 PM on September 1, 2023 [5 favorites]
Aren't most of the modern sail technologies a supplementary motive source rather than a primary, so that the vessel is still capable of powered operation even if the secondary source fails entirely?
posted by biffa at 3:53 PM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by biffa at 3:53 PM on September 1, 2023 [2 favorites]
There is I think. My in-laws sailed around the coast of Greenland a while back. Try looking for sailing 'expeditions'.
Those definitely exist. I'm thinking (wishfully, not realistically) about how nice it would be to have a sailing option for actually going somewhere. Like, having the option to take the sailboat from Seattle to Japan, or from New York to Amsterdam, or Miami to Rio. I'm fully aware there is no business case for this, but I wish there was because it sounds so pleasant.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:55 PM on September 1, 2023
Those definitely exist. I'm thinking (wishfully, not realistically) about how nice it would be to have a sailing option for actually going somewhere. Like, having the option to take the sailboat from Seattle to Japan, or from New York to Amsterdam, or Miami to Rio. I'm fully aware there is no business case for this, but I wish there was because it sounds so pleasant.
posted by Dip Flash at 6:55 PM on September 1, 2023
Biffa has it. None of these are sailing without a standard-issue diesel engine. If a sail breaks, big deal, the ship will get to port just without the fuel savings it enjoyed prior to the break.
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:19 PM on September 1, 2023
posted by armoir from antproof case at 7:19 PM on September 1, 2023
If a sail breaks, you now have a huge piece of material that's out of your control, and able to exert massive forces on the ship in all the wrong directions. It's not a case of "oh well, doesn't matter".
posted by automatronic at 8:04 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by automatronic at 8:04 PM on September 1, 2023 [1 favorite]
The reason all these wingsail systems keep failing to catch on is that they fall into that gap in the middle. They're not reliable enough that they can be treated like an engine, but they're too complex and specialised to be maintained at sea.
I guess that if the fuel savings were sufficiently spectacular, it would be easier to justify the extra costs of making, installing, running and repairing them. 30% savings may simply not be enough.
RealEngineering made a good video about the practicality of renewable powered shipping. His conclusion was that a cocktail of solutions including moving less stuff about and doing it at a slower speed, would be the way forward.
posted by rongorongo at 2:45 AM on September 2, 2023
I guess that if the fuel savings were sufficiently spectacular, it would be easier to justify the extra costs of making, installing, running and repairing them. 30% savings may simply not be enough.
RealEngineering made a good video about the practicality of renewable powered shipping. His conclusion was that a cocktail of solutions including moving less stuff about and doing it at a slower speed, would be the way forward.
posted by rongorongo at 2:45 AM on September 2, 2023
It's always 30% or less that shipping envisions saving by sales, etc. Yes, we'll need less & slower shipping before this makes sense, except shipping less conflicts with the increased materials usage from electric cars.
We need world events to force a drastic reduction in consumption, like ideally the US and BRICS have some hot conflict over oil, so remind your politicians that the last one with oil wins.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:05 AM on September 2, 2023
We need world events to force a drastic reduction in consumption, like ideally the US and BRICS have some hot conflict over oil, so remind your politicians that the last one with oil wins.
posted by jeffburdges at 4:05 AM on September 2, 2023
I've been watching the Tres Hombres on its journey from Copenhagen through the Kattegat and around the Skagen peninsula the past few days, and the AIS track shows one of the problems with unpowered square-rigged sail boats... Due to very unfavorable winds, they've been forced to beat to windward and are making only around 20 NM of headway per day. Without any sort of hydrodynamic keel or leeboards or motor, they can only sail a few degrees into the wind. This means that they are basically limited to traveling almost perpendicular to it and must sail more than 4x the distance in a zigzag pattern to make progress directly against the headwind.
I'm supposed to meet the ship in France next week, but it looks like it will be at least a week delayed... The winds in the North Sea don't look good either, although maybe they will pick up some speed once they reach the English Channel.
posted by autopilot at 2:44 AM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm supposed to meet the ship in France next week, but it looks like it will be at least a week delayed... The winds in the North Sea don't look good either, although maybe they will pick up some speed once they reach the English Channel.
posted by autopilot at 2:44 AM on September 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
I always feel stupid when I forget to put down the daggerboard while wind surfing, but maybe not anymore now that someone forgot this while building a sail freighter. lol
posted by jeffburdges at 4:26 PM on September 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jeffburdges at 4:26 PM on September 5, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by glaucon at 10:08 PM on August 31, 2023